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Michael Stappord
}} Michael Stappord is one of the main characters on Devious Maids. A rich Beverly Hills lawyer, he is Marisol's employer in the first season, as well as Taylor's husband. Despite his passionate and true love for his wife, he still seems to put his previous spouse, Olivia Rice first. Despite Taylor's jealousy towards this, the couple comes out strong and are able to withstand anything that comes their way. The couple finally get pregnant, but end up losing the child when Taylor is shot in the stomach. Ultimately, Michael and Taylor end up getting their happy ending when they move to Washington D.C. and plan to adopt. Biography 'Early Life' }} At some point, rich and successful lawyer Michael Stappord marries the equally successful famous decorator, Olivia Rice; but, she is unable to conceive a child with him and so the marriage starts to unravel over twenty years. He proceeds to become involved in Adrian Powell's "hobby", which involves setting up his middle-aged rich friends with young, beautiful prostitutes. Michael is set up with one by the name of Taylor, and their lovemaking leads to the two of them inadvertently falling in love with one another. Their affair becomes long-term and ends with him divorcing Olivia in favor of this younger model. However, he feels awful about this and is thus submissive in his breakup, sacrificing, among other things, their beloved maid Lupe. }} After Michael's client, Philippe Delatour, rapes a maid called Flora Hernandez, she demands money from her attacker and Michael meets with her in order to negotiate terms. She believes the amount of money she's being offered to be too small, despite Michael assuring her of what a generous sum it is. She reveals to him that she is pregnant, and the father of her baby is "very close" to Philippe - therefore she expects more. Michael warns her to be careful because he's seen Philippe in action and he knows how dangerous he can be, but Flora points out that she has bills to pay and a grandmother to support. Ergo, she wants more money and isn't afraid of going to extreme lengths to get it. Unbeknownst to them both at the time, this conversation is being recorded, and a DVD copy of it comes under the possession of Adrian Powell. Days later, Philippe murders the maid due to her deviousness, and confesses the whole sordid tale to Michael. As Philippe's lawyer, Michael is forbidden to tell another soul what has been revealed to him in confidence. 'Season 1 }} Michael and Taylor interview a new maid, Marisol Duarte, following the reluctant departure of Lupe. The beautiful blonde is initially hesitant to hire such a well-spoken newcomer, wanting her old maid back, but Marisol agrees to work on a trial basis, saying that if the Stappords are unhappy with her services after one week then she'll leave. Marisol later happens across a crying Taylor and wonders what's wrong. Taylor doesn't believe that Marisol would be able to understand the kind of problem she's having, but the maid disagrees, assuring her new employer that she gives excellent advice. Caving, Taylor admits that her problem stems from the first Mrs. Stappord, Olivia Rice; Marisol recognizes her name and knows her to be a famous interior decorator, hearing that everything in the household was personally selected by her prior to the divorce. Taylor wants to change things and make her home more to her taste, but Michael is worried that this might offend Olivia, hence her tears. Marisol assures her that in the grand scheme of things, she's still the winner, and an ex-wife's throw pillows hardly compare to the likes of good health and an adoring husband... which only confirms Taylor's suspicions that Marisol wouldn't understand her problem. At Michael's birthday dinner, Olivia drops in and makes a scene, throwing a crystal heart against the wall as a visual metaphor for how her heart was broken when Michael left her for a younger model. Taylor begs that her husband do something, but it is Marisol who steps in. She manhandles Olivia out the door, to the applause of the party guests, and this convinces Taylor that her new maid is worthy of a full-time position. Unbeknownst to her, however, Marisol is actually undercover, trying to exonerate her son of Flora Hernandez's recent murder. }} Taylor goes shopping with Marisol to prepare for a dinner party and, at the supermarket, they run into Olivia. The latter apologizes to Marisol for the way she acted at Michael's birthday party, and Marisol accepts the apology, but urges her to apologize to Taylor as well. However, Olivia refuses to, and reveals that Taylor used to be a prostitute. Later, over drinks, Taylor explains to Marisol how she got into the sex trade business, and Marisol recommends that she tells Michael about Olivia's knowledge before the latter spreads it. Taylor requests that Marisol be by her side when she tells him. When they finally break the news to Michael, he decides that they all should leave to New York, an idea that doesn't please the women. Marisol later tells Michael that she can't move because of personal reasons, and suggests that she talk to Olivia and find out how she discovered the truth and what her intentions are. Later, Marisol stops by Olivia's with the pretext of bringing her some mail, and starts complaining about Taylor, hoping to ingratiate herself to Michael's ex-wife. Olivia asks her in for tea, and Marisol tells Olivia that Taylor is terrified that she might tell people the truth, and that the Stappords want to move to New York. She then lies and tells the old woman that Michael is still in love with her and will probably want her back, so it's best for Olivia if they don't move. Olivia decides to write Taylor a letter to let her know she won't tell anyone. She then asks how Olivia found out about Taylor's past, and Olivia reveals that she was told by Evelyn Powell. Marisol tells Taylor, who is delighted, and she then asks her boss to explain to her what is going on with Adrian and his prostitutes. Taylor explains that he hires women to seduce his inebriated friends during intimate get-togethers, while the friends have no idea of what is going on, and then he simply disappears when the time for love-making comes. Marisol is confused, and wonders what Adrian could get out of this... }} Genevieve's business manager runs off with all her money, and her lawyer Michael explains to her that because he's in Brunei, he cannot be arrested because American jurisdiction does not extend to them. Remi is happy to still have his trust fund... until Michael breaks the news that he actually does not. When Marisol is snooping around the Powell house, she comes across one of Adrian's many DVDs which features Michael and Taylor having sex from when the latter was a prostitute. She is forced to abandon viewing due to the sudden appearance of Evelyn, and when she returns to continue collecting evidence, the DVD has been moved. Therefore, she decides to go in another direction: she makes martinis for Michael and Taylor and reveals to them that Adrian has a collection of DVDs of Taylor's sessions. Marisol offers to steal them, but she'd have to know where he keeps them stored. Michael keeps drinking, and Taylor asks them if he knew anything, but he doesn't respond and storms out. The women follow him to the Powell house, concerned, to find Michael beating up Adrian and demanding to know where the DVDs are. Evelyn shows up with a baseball bat, however, and intimidates Michael into stopping. She then takes Marisol to a room hidden at the end of a hallway where she sees a camera pointing at a one-way glass, on the other side of which is the bedroom where the prostitution sessions took place. On the walls are several shelves filled with an extensive collection of DVDs. Evelyn picks up the Taylor collection, on their way, Evelyn tells Marisol that she is fired. Later, Michael calls Adrian to apologize for how he acted, hoping for there to be no copy of the DVD where he and Flora negotiated terms for Philippe. Adrian assures him that he destroyed it ages ago, even though he's holding it in his hand as he says it. }} Marisol realizes on her way to the store that she's forgotten her wallet, but when she returns to the Stappord mansion to retrieve it, she is shocked to discover Taylor and Michael making love atop the kitchen counter. They fall off in disgrace and try to apologize, ingratiating themselves in their maid's eyes by revealing that they're trying to get pregnant. Because of this, Marisol offers to take her boss to a fertility clinic she's familiar with, and Taylor is grateful for such an opportunity, having been worried that Michael might leave her if she's barren the same way he left his childless marriage to Olivia. Marisol assures her against this, knowing that Michael adores her, and, at the clinic, Taylor asks her friend how she knew of such a place. Marisol reveals that she herself found out she was infertile there, but it was okay because she and her husband simply adopted. This comes as a shock to Taylor because she thought Marisol had no family, and so the fake maid quickly fabricates that she had to give the child back after she divorced her ex. An apologetic Taylor then bumps into Joan Fisher, an old friend of Olivia who has no qualms in telling the first Mrs. Stappord that Michael is attempting to impregnate his new wife. Olivia is distraught and appears in the Stappords' kitchen, only to be warded off yet again by Marisol who is forced to break the old woman's heart all over again by revealing that she lied about Michael still having feelings for her. }} Taylor is pregnant and can't wait to share the news with absolutely everyone she knows, but Michael is worried about word getting out because of how Olivia might react. To avoid her having to find out the hard way, Michael pays his ex-wife a visit and amicably breaks the news that he's successfully starting a family with Taylor, to her dismay. Marisol, meanwhile, convinces her beautiful blonde employer to have a dinner party to announce the pregnancy officially, having an agenda that involves talking to her son's old catering colleague about something to do with Flora's murder. Taylor is at first hesitant by the amount of guests who end up arriving, but everything turns out for the best and the Stappords are able to joyously announce the good news to all their friends. The festivities are cut short however when Marisol spots something horrifying outside... Olivia Rice is hanging by the neck from a tree, attempting suicide due to Taylor's pregnancy. Everyone is shocked and Michael quickly works to have her cut down, crying over the possibility of his former spouse's death. Taylor is deeply saddened to see how much he obviously still cares for her. }} Taylor is unhappy with the fact that Michael has been visiting Olivia so often in hospital, and so she goes to Marisol for some of her legendary good advice. The undercover maid suggests that Taylor go with her husband on these visits to prove her support; meanwhile, she's been setting up a "surprise" meeting between Michael, Remi Delatour and her lawyer Ida Hayes, all in her efforts to exonerate her son of Flora Hernandez's murder. The meeting does not go well and merely makes Michael suspicious of Marisol, for she didn't exactly try hard to keep Ida from entering his home. Taylor later discovers Marisol eavesdropping outside her husband's office, which she finds strange. She decides to follow her maid's advice and go to the hospital with Michael, to his joy, and while there she tells him of what she found Marisol doing, wanting to think nothing of it because of what a good friend Marisol has been to her since she was hired. He tells her to keep an eye on their maid... he believes she could have some sort of an ulterior motive for working for them. }} Curious about Philippe Delatour and his involvement with Flora's death, Marisol asks Taylor a few questions, knowing Philippe to be one of Michael'] most faithful clients. Taylor doesn't really know anything, only that Philippe pays Michael a grand wealth of money, and grows suspicious when her maid continues to press the matter. Because of this, Taylor decides to phone her husband and tell him the kind of things Marisol's been asking, leading in turn to Michael telling Philippe. With the latter's private investigators at his disposal, Michael is able to find out that Marisol's real surname is Suarez: she is the mother of the boy arrested for the murder of Flora Hernandez. This too is told to Philippe, who assures his lawyer that he's already "taken care" of the matter. Michael now knows that Marisol is in danger and confronts her with the truth, advising her to leave as fast as she can before Philippe's gunman can track her down. Taylor, awaking from the nap she took due the tire of being pregnant, also becomes wary of the truth about her maid, not caring so long as Marisol never lied about being her friend, which she didn't. She insists that she stay so that they themselves can protect her, but when she goes outside to retrieve Marisol's bags, Philippe's gunman confuses her with his target and Taylor is shot in the torso. She collapses to the ground, blood pouring from her wound, and Michael is devastated to find her in such a state. With her employer's life in critical condition, Marisol rushes away to phone an ambulance. }} With a bullet in her stomach, Taylor is rushed through hospital with Marisol and Michael fast in her wake. The latter warns the doctors that his wife is pregnant and they promise to do all that they can to preserve the baby... but they can't. Taylor is left miscarried and Michael is utterly crushed by the news. After hearing about this herself, Marisol enters her employer's hospital room and begs Michael to tell her about Philippe, needing to exonerate her son. Michael refuses, pointing out that he's Philippe's lawyer and so nothing he tells the undercover maid will hold up in a court of law; all that would happen is he would be throwing away his legal license and Marisol still wouldn't be able to touch Philippe. However, a previously unconscious Taylor utters her husband's name, and she orders him to tell Marisol what she needs to know. Michael warns her against this, but she points out that Philippe killed their baby, and so he deserves what's coming to him. Adhering to this point of view, Michael asks Marisol where he should start, and so she requests that he tell her about the night Flora Hernandez was murdered. Season 2 Following Philippe's death, Marisol leaves her job working for the Stappord's and goes back to working as an English professor at a university in California. Despite leaving her life as a maid behind, however, she remains close friends with her former employers. Three months later, Taylor stops by Marisol's new home: her fiance's Beverly Hills mansion. While there, she reveals to her maid some important news. A firm in Washington D.C. has offered Michael a large amount of money to come work for them. This means that the Stappord's will be packing up and leaving that upcoming Friday. Marisol is a bit saddened by the news, especially with it happening so soon. Taylor tells her friend that she knows it's a bit soon, but they have already found an actor to rent their house, and once they have settled in, they can finally adopt a child. Season 3' At a unspecified moment after their departure, Taylor and Michael adopted a little girl named Katy. However, the adoption was not legal, which force the Stappords to lie about it. Moreover, Katy appeared to act quite weirdly, which let Michael to think she has some emotional problems and to act coldy towards her. Taylor is really attentive and understanding with Katy, creating some tensions between her and Michael and pushing Katy to think Taylor also does not love Michael, just like her. At an unknown moment after Katy's adoption, the Stappords came back to Beverly Hills to live in the house they rented to Spence Westmore. }} Finding Katy in Evelyn's garden, Michael and Taylor introduce their adoptive daughter to her. In her living room, Evelyn is serving some tea to Taylor and Michael, saying she had no idea that they came back to town. They reveal they've been back for a while, but have been busy with Katy. Evelyn asks where they found her, resulting is a nervous glance between the two Stappords, and Taylor quickly answers Argentina, saying Michael had business there so they visited an orphanage. She adds they knew that Katy was their daughter at the first look. Noticing Katy is not talking at all, Evelyn asks if she is dumb. Michael says Katy has some emotional problems. The little girl gives a strange look to Michael, and Taylor adds she had a tough start in life but she is adjusting. Evelyn decides to give chocolate to Katy, and leaves the room. Taylor asks why Michael said emotional problems, and the latter one retorts why Argentina. Taylor answers they can't say the truth. Later, Blanca is hired by Taylor and Michael. On her first day at the job, Michael is screaming at Katy for ruining his paperwork. Moreover, Taylor and Michael must head to the book signing for Marisol, and Taylor does not want to leave Katy alone so she plans to bring her with them. Michael asks Blanca to watch over Katy, while he goes to talk privately with Taylor. While Blanca is preparing her snack, Katy tells her that she and her mom do not love her dad. Blanca finds that really strange. At the book signing party, Genevieve says to Taylor and Michael she is happy for them about having Katy, especially since they missed all the difficult parts since Katy is older. Michael assures they do not miss any difficult parts, and he leaves. Then, he rushes off and gives a man a sealed envelope and tells him that "tonight is the night". After the party, a bloody crime scene is discovered by Taylor and Blanca in the Stappords' living room. Trivia *Of the main characters, Michael has only formally met with Marisol, Zoila, Evelyn, Adrian, Taylor, Remi, and Genevieve. **After "Crimes of the Heart", it can be presumed he also met Spence, since he rented his and Taylor's home for the second season. Gallery This is a gallery of photographic stills released to promote the character. Promo 101 14.png Promo 101 24.png Promo 106 02.png Promo 106 03.png Promo 109 09.png Promo 109 11.png Promo 110 14.png Promo 110 15.png Promo 112 17.png Promo 112 18.png Promo 112 19.png Promo 112 21.png Promo 113 41.png Promo 301 07.png Category:Main Characters Category:Season 1 Characters Category:Season 3 Characters